left eye on gub'ment

Class action status = big trouble for NYPD

Federal district court judge Shira Scheindlin changed the game yesterday by granting plaintiff’s motion for class certification in their challenge of the city’s stop & frisk practices.

To certify the class, Scheindlin had to make an important, substantive finding – that “the unlawful stops of putative class members result from a common source: the department’s policy of establishing performance standards and demanding increased levels of stops and frisks.” A good story in today’s New York Law Journal, linking to the the opinion Floyd v. City of New York, 08 Civ. 1034 and to both sides’ briefs.